(Text Only)
Title: Breaking down Paul’s text to build up our hearts
Ask my wife, this sermon was a killer to write.
Mary was a descendant of David, to whom God had made the promise that Messiah would come through him.
V2 (read) Paul reminds the Jewish Christians of the Church (or really anyone who would have been familiar with the O.T). that this Messiah, and His Gospel, were promised through his prophets years ago.
Question: Why are we so surprised when God does what he said he will do? I mean, we can criticize the Jews for not seeing Jesus as the Christ despite all the obvious signs, yet don’t we react the same way when we witness a miracle, or someone come to Christ that we never thought could. We are either skeptical or amazed, usually both…should we be?
v3 Let’s break this down:
1. Concerning His Son Jesus Christ…Christ as God. (Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?)
Point: Never let the world tell you that Jesus was a great teacher, or philosopher, but not the Son of God. If Jesus isn’t, it doesn’t matter if we “know” him or not, our faith is all for naught.
(who is)
2. Our Lord…Christ as Divinity (Mar 15:32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.)
Point: The Kingdom is not a metaphor, it is a present and future reality, the King is returning to his throne, we are his subjects, they are his enemies, yet he still wants us to tell them about His salvation. An interesting King, eh?
(who was)
3. Born of the seed of David…Jesus fulfilled all the Requirements. John 7:42 (Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?)
(Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.Christ as the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah would come through the line of King David.)
Point: Lineage is a very important thing to consider. If Christ is a King, he must have royal blood. He must also fulfill the prophecies of coming from David and Abraham’s line. If Jesus fails to do that, there are inconsistencies in God’s plan. Genealogies were important enough that Matthew (written primarily to the Jews) traces Christ’s ancestry back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith. And Luke (written primarily to the Greeks) traces Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Adam.
4. According to the flesh…Christ as fully human. (Hbr 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.)
Point: I’m going to say something that may startle you: I believe that Christ’s humanness is the single most important attribute he possesses, next to his sinlessness. In other words, if Christ isn’t human, we can connect with him. He can’t connect with us. We know we can’t connect with God, unless there is one to stand in the Gap who is, simultaneously, both fully God, and fully human. Without Christ humanness, he could connect with the father, but not with us.
(And)
5. Declared to be the Son of God
6. …with power according to the Spirit of Holiness
7. By the resurrection from the dead
Let me re-word what Paul is saying here: Because Christ rose from the dead (conquer death) He must be proved holy, he must be the son of God.
In other words: Christ is what he is by the manifold witness of what he did.
What did he do?
Lived as a man, tempted as we all are.
Resisted.
Died a sinner’s death.
Rose again, walked the earth again.
Yes, it did happen 2000 years ago, but it isn’t folklore for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. It is a fact, in the same way the we are 60 miles south of Cleveland and 80 miles north of Columbus. It is a fact that Jesus Christ is a historical figure. It is a fact that he was crucified, it is a fact that thousands of people witness him walking, talking and preaching the same gospel days after his lifeless body was buried in a tomb.
I started today making the observation that we seem surprised when God does what he said he will do. Well, there is this whole book in the back of the Bible called revelation, and any way you read it, it’s pretty clear on saying that this same Jesus is coming back. Will you be surprised?